I can still remember the feeling when I packed the last of my belongings into The Big Yellow storage facility I had rented. I felt a slight apprehension and nervousness but also a feeling of freedom, knowing that for the next 12 months I didn't have a care in the world, at least from a work perspective anyhow. 

Are you fucking crazy? Those were the very words spoken by my boss when I handed in my notice. A month later I dropped off the keys to my company car, said goodbye to my colleagues and hopped onto the tube to Heathrow.